If you watched the new episodes of Stranger Things as soon as they dropped on Netflix, you might want to view them again – as some of the wonderful special effects may have been missing.
The second volume of the show’s fourth season released on Friday at 8am, but series creators were quick to warn viewers to hold off streaming it, as it wasn’t quite finished.
But millions were so eager to find out what happened to characters including Eleven ( Millie Bobby Brown ), Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke), they may have inadvertently watched a sub-par version.
Speaking to Collider, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer said they only completed work on the special effects on Thursday (June 30).
The new episodes were swiftly uploaded to Netflix, but some of the post-production work might not have been added in time for viewers to see.
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“FYI the #dufferbrothers told me they finished a bunch of VFX shots on #StrangerThings4 episode nine this morning and uploaded them to the @netflix server so if you watch the episode at 2am tonight you might not see the final shots,” Collider editor-in-chief Steven Weintraub told US fans.
“Better to sleep and wake up and then watch,” he said.
This worked out well for American audiences as the series dropped in the early hours of the morning, but UK fans could well have spotted some dodgy effects if they viewed it here at 8am.
Clarifying his comments, Weintraub then wrote: “I believe they said 20 VFX (special effects) shots. Should have said that. Which means you can watch an episode and probably not notice what wasn’t 10 per cent done. I don’t want to make it sound like the episode wasn’t 99 per cent done.”
Apparently, it takes 24 hours after an episode is uploaded for full effects work to appear.
Interestingly, even though an episode is streaming that doesn’t mean it cannot be re-edited.
The Duffer brothers have sometimes tinkered with episodes and re-uploaded them without the audience even realising.
Viewers were recently delighted to learn that the hugely-anticipated fifth season of Stranger Things will take place after a substantial time jump.
The countdown begins now!
